Chef Chat

'Top Chef' contestant Carla Hall cooks up comfort, family

Carla Hall

Carla Hall has traveled the world and cooked with some of the best in the business. Everything always comes back to Sunday suppers.

Every week, the Nashville native and her family would head across town to her grandmother's. They'd cross the doorway, and only then would grandma put on the corn bread.

Sunday supper was comfort food, connections and bonds formed bite by bite.

Hall has worked her way through several careers. Accounting was a steady and solid first job, but it wasn't for her. She headed for Europe, modeled and got a taste of the world. She was 30 when she entered culinary school. She hit her 40s working as a personal chef and caterer before she got the attention of television audiences on Bravo's "Top Chef." Comfort food was part of her arsenal, and one of her most requested recipes is the Last Supper Buttered Tarragon Peas she cooked for Jacques Pepin on the show.

Selection as fan favorite on "Top Chef All-Stars" launched her in a whole new direction. Since 2011, Hall has been co-host on ABC's "The Chew," working with Mario Batali, Clinton Kelly, Michael Symon and Daphne Oz. Chatting with celebrities and big-name chefs on a weekly basis, she rarely finds herself at a loss for words. Only Jamie Oliver has left her tongue-tied.

Approaching her 50th birthday in May, she's sharing family recipes and exploring memorable meals inspired by different cuisines in her second cookbook, "Carla's Comfort Foods: Favorite Dishes From Around the World" ($29.99, Simon & Schuster), in stores this week.

Hall splits her time between New York and Washington, D.C., where she lives with her husband, Matthew Lyons, and stepson, Noah. To see recipes and her blog or to order from her line of bite-size cookies, go to carlahall.com.

Q. You received a degree in accounting from Howard University. How did you end up cooking?

A. There's a story about even getting to accounting. I really wanted to major in theater. I don't think there's a big jump from theater to food. So the accounting, I went and did the thing I was expected to do to be responsible. I wasn't happy, and at the end of the day my mother and grandmother said that's your job. Your job is to be happy. I took that very seriously.

After I worked for Price Waterhouse for a few years, I went to Europe. I was modeling for a bit. I fell into food, doing a lunch delivery service to doctors' offices.

I went to culinary school at 30. I never looked back. I truly believe that when you're walking in your truth and the thing that you're meant to do, opportunities come to you. I tell people I went to France with one phone number, stayed in a hotel. It was a risk, but the fact of the matter was I was setting up the rest of my life.

Q. Personal chefs and caterers typically work behind the scenes. What was the biggest challenge moving to television?

A. When I started "The Chew," it was hosting. It is about the food, but no one is tasting the food. I didn't know how to be in the food and look up and talk to people. Even on "Top Chef," the cameras were filming me doing what I did: cooking.

I have never had a problem with people, I love people. I love doing cooking classes. This is a marriage between my two loves: theater and food. People got to know me on TV. Now when people come up to me on the streets, I look at it as my opportunity to get to know them.

Q. Why are Sunday suppers such a focus for you?

A. You learn so much from people through the foods they like. When you listen to them talk about the foods they like, it is usually those food memories from the formative years, the things grandmother and grandfather were cooking, everything that happened around the dinner table with your parents.

Even though I was a late bloomer coming to the food table, my food memories were strong. Every Sunday I went to my grandmother's house. Those are the dishes I'm trying to re-create. It is a taste or a moment from those days.

I've watched "Ratatouille" I don't know how many times, but I cry because that's so me. When I make food for people, I want them to have a new food memory.

Q. What lessons did you learn from trying to capture family recipes?

A. It is so important to cook with the people who are making the dishes you love. It may not be exactly the same. But it has nuance. That's the beauty of cooking, even though it is not Aunt Minnie's or grandma's, maybe my niece and sister will want to make mine. That's what I bring to the table. Sometimes I have to tell people to let go of that memory a little bit so there's room to put yourself in that recipe.

Q. What defines comfort food for you?

A. I think it's anything that you might have had in your kitchen at home that makes you feel good and makes you smile. And, it's easy. There are food memories attached to that food.

Q. Most common question from fans?

A. Where's my restaurant? Which I don't have.

Q. Will you ever?

A. Maybe. It's a lot of work. I couldn't be the chef, I'd have to have someone be there and understand the food. On Twitter, I get a lot of baking questions and questions about Southern food. I really try to take the time to answer those questions.

Q. You do have a cookie company though?

A. We have a line of sweet and savory cookies, the size of sugar cubes. You can have a buffet of cookies without having to commit to one flavor. We use whole ingredients, not low-fat. The idea is you can have a bite and feel satisfied.

Q. You admit to being a "total pack rat." What do you never give up?

A. Oh my gosh! I have to have doubles of everything. All of my facial products. Yes, I'm one of those girls. When I travel, I have five bottles or things just for my face. I can't live without my toiletries.

I love crafts. I love paper and buy a lot of crafting supplies, I think I'm keeping Michaels in business. I put all the things in the attic. It's like a pantry of crafting things, so when I have the time I'm going to get to those things eventually. Being a pack rat, there's a method to the madness!

Q. Are people surprised that you still take the subway?

A. Oh my gosh, yes! Funny story, I was meeting up one Christmas with all the "Chew" hosts. Michael says, "Don't be late, they don't do reservations and they're doing one for us." I got on the wrong train! They're like why didn't you take a cab? It didn't even dawn on me to take a cab, and I'm carrying heavy gifts!

Q. Anyone who makes you speechless?

A. I can't even say it without stuttering. Jamie Oliver. I just love him. I love his work, what he stands for, his little stutter and his food ministry. ... When I met him on "The Chew," I didn't meet him in the green room. The first time I met him was on set. I'm going on and on ... I looked up and he stepped back with these wide eyes. Oh gosh, too much? So, I wasn't speechless!

Q. Who would you like to cook for you?

A. That's a lovely question. Usually it is the other way around. I don't even know if she cooks anymore. Maya Angelou. Somebody not even in food. I kind of want an experience and to hear people's stories and what they ate as a child, their history.

About Kristine M. Kierzek

Chef Carla Hall said this soup marked the beginning of her cooking career. At her first restaurant job, at the Henley Park Hotel, the chowder was a menu staple. "I hadn't worked with Mexican flavors and had no clue how to handle the huge 5-quart blender," Hall recalled. "Thankfully, it all came together beautifully." In her mind's eye, corn chowder should be yellow, but she was "fascinated by the addition of cumin and the deep orange color of the finished soup," tinted by the tomatoes and chiles.

Add yuca, broth, tomatoes with their juices and corn cobs. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until yuca is tender, about 30 minutes. Add corn kernels and cook just until heated through and still crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Discard cobs.

Using an immersion blender or stand blender (working in batches if necessary), puree about half the soup until thickened. It should be creamy but still have bits of vegetables throughout. Stir puree into remaining soup. Serve with crema, lime, avocado and cilantro.

Note: Yuca is a starchy vegetable that’s also known as cassava. It’s similar to potatoes but even starchier, with a mild sweetness.